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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: board · wax · club · pitcher · hand · season · degree · bulb

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bulb — for light
  3. board — a committee
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. hand — help
  7. club — for golf
  8. bulb — for light
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. season — of the year
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. season — in sport
  14. club — for dancing
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. board — to get on
  17. hand — in cards
  18. club — a group
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. degree — temperature
  22. wax — to grow
  23. degree — an amount
  24. season — to add flavour

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com